PSX drops huge 555pts, loses 51,000 level at closing

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange Thursday remained volatile and also lost the 51,000 level after shedding huge 554.81 points to drop to 50956.60 points level at closing.

The stocks recorded the highest trading level of 51570.29 points and lowest level of 50875.11 points, with the volume of over 302.03 million shares and value of Rs14.09 billion. As many as 405 companies were active; of which 185 advanced, 202 declined and 18 remained unchanged.

WorldCall Telecom was the volume leader with 32.46 million shares, gaining Rs 0.18 to reach Rs 3.38. It was followed by Engro Polymer with 15.11 million shares, adding Rs 0.29 to end at Rs 31.10 and Silk Bank Ltd with 14.19 million shares, increasing Rs 0.12 to close at Rs 1.87.

The top three gainers were Nestle Pakistan with price per share of 10000 (350), ICI Pakistan with price per share of 1163.31 (52.31) and Pak Tobacco share of 1540 (44).

The top three losers were Sapphire Fiber with price per share of 1265 (-61.68), Unilever Foods with price per share of 6162 (-38) and Packages Ltd share of 841.59 (-25.33).

Earlier, the stocks opened keeping previous day’s bearish note and lost 10 paisas to reach 51500.96 points level in early trading. The PSX continued to shed points till midday and dropped 189 points to drop to 51322 points level on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the PSX declined by 302 points as investors continued to book gains in heavy weight stocks which rallied considerably in the run up to MSCI review.

Retail favorites led volumes with DSL churning out 25m shares in anticipation of plant commissioning, which as per last official communication from the company would fall in May 2017. Volumes remained flat at 372m shares, while traded value shed 22% to $173m as activity was concentrated in 2nd tier names.